Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 515: In hiding

As the hours passed, outside of the castle and a good distance away from it, Ada kept on pacing back and forth, incessantly biting on her nails under Morgana’s as well as Floriel’s watch.

But when the silence grew too stifling, the two creatures exchanged a look before deciding to finally break the aching tedium.

"Whose house is this?" Floriel chirped from Morgana’s shoulder.

"It belonged to my father," without ceasing the back and forth she did, Ada, at least, removed her nail from under her own teeth, "He used to conduct experiments with plants on his free time,"

"Forgive me if I am crossing the line but, I am well aware that people of your skin complexion and quality of hair usually hail from the southwestern region so, were you born here or did you travel with your father?"

At those words, Ada stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Morgana as though she had slapped her.

Although before the witch could apologize again, Ada sighed, her shoulders slumping, "My father’s reputation preceded him. The king himself awarded him this little house so that he would relocate in order to work for the nobles of the area and in the royal gardens,"

It was no mansion, by any means. Its wood worn out, even the furniture threatened to take their last breath.

"How did you end up at the Eleazars as a maid?" Floriel chimed in, eyes glistening and round.

"That is... That’ll be another story for another day," she clicked her tongue against her palate when the blood in her veins started boiling again, "Shouldn’t we start getting ready to enter the castle? Lord knows what they could be doing to her right now!" she let her entire weight fall on one of the old couches in the room.

Floriel looked at anything that wasn’t Ada, null doubt to avoid that devastating frown that would eat at a kind heart, but Morgana walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "I understand, but we simply cannot rush into things," she sighed before continuing, "For the longest time, humans have been known to utilize witchcraft for their own benefit while pretending otherwise. In order to capture a vampire such as Silas, one ought to have many factors combined in their favor. I doubt this Lauden alone with the royal guards could put a scratch on him,"

"She could be dead for all we know," Ada murmured more to herself than anyone else.

"Somehow, I doubt that,"

To that response, Ada stood up and stormed out of the room.

Towards the abandoned garden she went, where Edgar seemed very interested in the remnant plants. Most of which had long since passed away.

It was mostly a quiet and isolated little heaven that the king had gifted her father. Another blessing to count since it allowed them stealth and shelter from prying eyes.

"How long has it been since you were here?"

"My father died and I never came back," her response was curt and out of character for her.

However, Edgar still said nothing about it and brought his attention back onto the dried up thing between his fingers.

"There is something I must retrieve before jumping into action," he said.

"What is it?" she crossed her arms over her chest while following Edgar’s hands as they moved.

"A sword," he paused for a moment before saving her the effort of asking, "My father left it in my care in the hopes I would integrate the royal army but that never happened,"

"Do you know how to use a sword?" she asked.

"I might’ve gotten a little rusty over the years, but I’d say yes. I do," he broke the yellow little leaf off the rest of the carcass in that pot.

"Do you think we will get them out in time?" the nail biting returned.

Edgar just looked at her before throwing his eyes up to the sky, making sure to avoid the blinding sun, "I know I don’t appear like it, but I have never been an overly optimistic man. I believe that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, but I am here either way,"

"Why are you here, exactly?"

He took a few more seconds to consider her question, "Lady Persephone would have been devastated to receive the news. I did not want to be there, twiddling my fingers when words got back to her,"

The day was so beautiful, but far away from the place they all called home. It was as though something had gotten in her and hollowed out a good chunk of Ada.

Her eyes went all around the garden she spent a lot of time in throughout her childhood.

At the pots and plants. The ones that rose high by nature as well as the ones that crawled. The rows and rows of vegetation her father loved to experiment upon.

Then there were the trees, separating that piece of land from the rest of the nearest town. It was a miracle the property remained vacant, but then again considering its history and the rumours that went around back when she left, it was no surprise people still believed it was cursed.

In the distance, by those same trees that drew the line between shelter and open view, Allegra and Cynric stood together, sharing thoughts of their own.

"You recovered fairly quickly, considering the amount of Yuniper you inhaled," Cynric pointed out.

"I drank from Lady Arabella’s blood which in turn still contained traces of Lord Silas’ blood. So, yes. It’s as if nothing had happened to me at all," she shrugged, her hand sweeping the overgrown grass strands that populated the uncultivated portion of the land.

"So, it is really as potent as that!" he chuckled, "The damn bastard ran around with liquid gold in his veins and no one was the wiser,"

"Don’t use such insulting terms when you speak about him!"

The glare she gave him made him react instantly, "I know I said you look alright, but those bags under your eyes do somewhat concern me,"

The vampiress pulled the hood of her cloak further over her head, "Thank you for your consideration. It is merely a secondary effect from the spell that allows me to walk under the sun,"